


The Eye and the Hurricane

by Linorien



Series: 007 Fest 2019 [1]
Category: James Bond (Craig movies), James Bond - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, London International Spy Adventures, Mission Fic, it's back
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-03
Updated: 2019-07-10
Packaged: 2020-06-03 04:09:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19456051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Linorien/pseuds/Linorien
Summary: Local aspiring politician is also an aspiring drug lord. Lady. She's keeping her eye out for spies sent by governments...but maybe she won't be on the lookout for weekend spies only playing a game. That's right, Bond has to play at being Agent Silvereye again, an alias given to an average Londoner who signed up for a fake mission at London International Spy Adventures in order to pretend to be a spy for a weekend. He hates it, Q loves it, and somewhere in the middle the mission might not fail.





	1. Suspicions

**Author's Note:**

> You don't need to have read the other story first, but if you enjoy this, I strongly suggest checking out [Double Bluff](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4163202).

Bond was suspicious. Specifically, he was suspicious about Q. The man never took holidays and yet for the past two weeks he had been astonishingly difficult to track down. Bond wasn’t stalking him or anything, but when he got tired of reading all the intel reports in his inbox and the pool was full of other agents, he liked going down to Q branch and seeing what the boffin was doing. 

Often it allowed them to both take a breather and share a cuppa, sometimes Q was truly busy and Bond simply watched the controlled chaos of Q branch, and on a rare occasion Q let him help test prototypes. 

His intel reports had been particularly discouraging with reports of increased drug traffic in Serbia and Albania, political unrest in Montenegro, and assassinations in Slovenia. Not that his reports were ever uplifting, but this week seemed particularly disheartening. Which is why he’d been seeking out Q’s company more. 

Except R had been in the front of the room every time. “When will he be back?” Bond asked again today. 

“He’s scheduled to be in at nine. Only for an hour though.” She jabbed a finger at Bond. “And I don’t want to see you down here then. Any distractions and he’ll stay here longer. And every moment he’s here longer is less time for him to sleep. And I will not have you contributing to his already awful sleep schedule.”

Bond backed off and returned to his office. 

It wasn’t until two days later that he found out the cause of Q’s absence. 

He was called into M’s office. Nothing unusual about the summons. He passed Moneypenny on the way in, asking if she knew any juicy secrets. 

“Nothing you won’t find out soon enough, James,” she teased as she filed her nails. “I’m surprised a veteran spy like yourself would simply ask. Don’t you do any detective work these days?”

“I  _ detect _ ,” he leaned closer, “that you know what mission I’m assigned. Should I be packing my swimsuit or my snowskies?”

“Well now that rather depends on how much you stray from the mission directives. If you stick to the straight and narrow...”

“I assure you nothing about me is straight,” Bond purred. “I consider every option on a mission. Especially one of such impor–”

“Bond. Ms Moneypenny,” M’s voice interrupted over the speaker. “If you wanted to flirt you should’ve arrived earlier. You’re already late.”

Moneypenny smiled a tight lipped smile. “You’d best get in there. Everyone else showed up on time.”

Bond wanted to ask who the others were, but in this case, he figured walking in was the best way to find out. 

Moneypenny hit the button of the intercom. “He’s on his way.”

Through the double quilted doors, M was sitting at his large desk, a spread of papers laid out before him. Agent Aguilar was seated in front of the desk looking through a small stack of papers. Terence from Q branch was sitting next to her and Q was seated on the edge of M’s desk. The only person allowed to do so.

Q looked directly at him and Bond’s suspicions grew. There was a mischievous glint in his eyes.

“Take a seat,” M said curtly. “As I was just explaining to Aguilar, there is concern in many different governments about Daisy Tavitian but nothing has been confirmed. Worryingly so. Her record is too clean and as she’s a recent political figure, we cannot dig further without raising suspicion.”

“What exactly are you suspicious of?” Bond asked. 

“Organised drug trade. There’s always been scattered groups in this region but recently they have gotten smarter, more careful, and there are far less turf wars. Someone is bringing them together and growing the business.”

“You think it’s her?” Looking at the picture in the dossier, he had doubts. But he also knew better than to judge based on appearances. 

Q spoke up. “Station T has been keeping an eye on her estate from a distance. They’ve been able to detect small watercraft on radar approaching her estate but then vanishing before reappearing several hours later heading out. They’ve reported that there appears to be a small cave near her estate, but unless the tide is low and the water is exceptionally calm, no boat would be able to make it safely in.”

“And low tide doesn’t even correspond to the times of the disappearances,” Terence added. 

Bond finished flipping through the pages and closed the folder. There was something he was missing. Like why Aguilar and Terence were here. Aguilar was a mid-level agent, only out of training for two years now. Maybe she was going to interface with Station T since she spoke Italian. And Terence also usually ran mid-level missions. His own choice too, so it wasn’t going to be a trial run of him handling a double-oh. “So what’s the plan? Infiltrate the drug gangs and find my way to her estate and dismantle it from there? Or pose as competition looking to strike a deal?”

Q pulled a folded piece of paper from his pocket and passed it over. It was an invitation to a party. A gala to celebrate her horse winning an important race. Even better. He knew horses. He’d done this gig before. He smiled. “I do love a good party.”

“You wont be attending,” M said. 

“You’ll be part of the taxi service,” Q said, a smile beginning to creep over his face. “It’s a water taxi though so at least you’ll have a boat.”

That was, he wasn’t sure. “This isn’t revenge for the last time, is it?”

“Q branch would never stoop so low as to deal in revenge,” Terence said. 

“Justice, on the other hand,” Q muttered. 

No, there was more to this. Taxi service wasn’t awful, he’d posed at waitstaff before. It was useful, you got in and no one asked questions. He didn’t even need a wardrobe change. That alone would not cause the glint in Q’s eyes. “Out with it, Q.”

“Well, you see. Ms Tavitian knows spies are watching. She’s running for office, too so she’s increased her security. So there can’t be any way to trace it back to MI6. Even if you’re involved in particularly spy-like activities.”

Bond shook his head slowly. Please no. 

“Which is why we’ve decided to run this mission in plain sight.”

Now Bond knew why Terence was here. 

Q’s smile was unrepentant now. “You’ve got a new mission, Agent Silvereye.”


	2. Not your Typical Holiday

_ Three weeks earlier... _

London International Spy Adventures was a company that catered to the adventure junkies who lead boring lives. The ones who read spy books and fancied themselves perfectly suited when they really weren’t. Clients signed up for missions and got to pretend to be a spy for a few days. There were many repeat clients who forced the handlers to come up with even more missions, but there were also people who wanted to just try it out once as a fun thing to do with a friend. 

Q had his laptop bag slung over his shoulder as he walked confidently up to the back office. He entered the small foyer and rang the buzzer. MI6 had used them as a cover on a mission before when they needed an agent to investigate a company that was off limits. The beauty was that agents got to sneak around like spies and that was their cover story. The passports were fake enough to plant doubt and they carried documentation that said this was just a game. Most low level employees could be tricked into thinking that the higher levels had in fact agreed to this. 

After all, it was ludicrous for the company’s clients to be professional spies. 

The door opened and a familiar face stepped out. “Desmond! Hey, I got your email. You’re early as usual. Come on in. We’ll get you set up.”

This was Brendan. He went by B while working here and was currently the head of the company. (After Q had hired the previous head.) Q had emailed him about working here for a few weeks while his company moved offices and as he’d worked here before, B welcomed him back no questions asked. 

“How’ve you been?”

“Doing good. Work has been keeping me busy so honestly the office move is a bit of a relief. The higher ups have been on our backs about budget too,” Q said. That bit wasn’t a lie. It was part of the reason M had agreed to this plan. The cost of Bond and Aguilar signing up for a mission would be offset by the wages Q and Terence would make from working as handlers. And the agency would take care of all the travel expenses and the wardrobes. 

Also Q wanted blackmail and this would be gold. 

“Now do you want any particular type of mission?” B asked. 

“Some day long ones to start. Only cause it might finally hit me that I have time off and a day long sleep might be good on Wednesday.” Q smiled sheepishly, the look of a workaholic who knew he had a problem. “But after that, do you have any infiltration missions coming up?”

B scanned his database quickly. “Doesn’t look like it, but those aren’t as popular. I’ll let you know when one comes up.”

“Ta.”

“Alright let’s get you a workspace.” He walked them out into the main room. Long tables and computer workstations similar to Q branch. It was more crowded than he remembered with nearly all the workstations filled. There were only sixteen, but still. The standing desk up front was currently empty and the large screens were a slideshow of tropical beaches. “Actually, A came back as well, and you worked well together so I’ll set you up next to him.”

“A left?” Q asked, as if he hadn’t hired him. 

“Yeah. But I’ll let him tell you.”

Terence, known here as A, waved at Q. “Q! It’s good to see you again. I never got a chance to say good job on that mission. You packed it up pretty fast.”

“Sorry about that,” Q set his laptop down and settled himself in the really comfortable desk chair. 

“I’ll leave you two to catch up,” B said. “I’ll email you the rest of the paperwork to fill out, Desmond, sorry, Q.”

“Terence,” Q said a little more seriously as he pulled out his laptop. 

“Sir,” he replied. 

“None of that now,” he reprimanded. “You outrank me here.” He pulled up his kindle app and synced it to his last read location from his mobile. 

Terence shook his head. “Now I see why you suggested this. You won’t admit it, but even you need a break. And working a temp position that requires advanced tech skills and dealing with pretend spies is actually a break for you.”

Q sniffed primly. “I don’t know what you mean.”

***

Q and A both worked at London International Spy Adventures for two weeks, refamiliarising themselves with what was considered possible and acclimating to the slow internet. And, it made it less suspicious when “Richard Sterling” signed up for another mission as Agent Silvereye. And an infiltration mission at that. 

B came over to their table when he saw the application. “Q? You remember Agent Silvereye? Did you work well with him? I remember he wasn’t always good at following instructions.”

He didn’t know the half of it. “Yeah. We found our rhythm. Why?”

“He’s applied to be on an infiltration mission. You interested in being his handler again?”

“Yeah. It made it an interesting mission.”

B made a note on his tablet. “Wonderful. Just need to find a partner for him.”

And this was Terence’s cue. “Actually the agent I have right now is interested in an infil mission. Change of mind now that she tried a couple easy missions. When did Silvereye schedule his mission?”

“Next weekend.”

“I can ask if they are free and let you know in a couple hours. I think they’ll be a good match actually.”

With a smile, B shook his head. “I wish I could convince you both to stay here. It’s so much easier with you both around. Alright. Q, I’ll forward you the mission choices and let you pick and start the requisition forms. Just let me know if you need anything else.”

“Copy that,” Q said with a smile. 


	3. Plan A, Mostly

_Back to the present_

“So that’s where you’ve been all day,” Bond said. “I knew you were up to no good!” 

Q gasped dramatically. “Me? Up to no good? I’m doing this for your own good.”

“Alright,” M interrupted before they could really start bickering. “Back to the mission at hand. As this one is more dangerous than the last, Agent Aguilar will be your mission partner. She’ll be driving the boat with you as the skipper. When guests arrive, she’ll stay in the boat while you bring any luggage ashore and hopefully up to their guest rooms. Keep your eyes open but don’t wander off until the last guests have arrived.”

“From there it should be a standard mission. I’ll give you cameras to plant and then you get out. Even if the cameras are found, you can’t be anywhere near there. Now I’m still working on the exact details that the agency will provide for your mission so you might have to be flexible, but as Terence is running Eden, you won’t have to be as discreet on comms.”

“Although do try to keep the banter to a minimum,” Terence added. “I know the people who work there and they can be terrible gossips.”

Bond snorted. “So Q branch without a secrecy act.”

Aguilar rolled her eyes. She’d been looking forward to experiencing Q’s handling style first hand, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to deal with bickering like this. “And what do I do while he sneaks around?” she asked. 

“The nearest Q branch will take care of you. Serafina is good,” Q said. “She should have more stealth equipment for you to get closer to the estate and receive the signals from the cameras without being in the danger zone. You’ll also be backup when something goes wrong.”

A few more details were covered and then the agents were released to do their homework on their suspect. Q would show Bond later how to use the cameras. Hopefully since he had done this before, he wouldn’t need to do a baby level mission.

***

Q twirled in the desk chair with an unrepentant grin. “So sorry, Agent Silvereye, but that was the only seat left on the plane. You only paid for the standard package which does not include first class seats.”

“You’re telling me that Aguilar paid more for her seat in first class?” She had waved at Bond when he walked past her to his seat in the back of the plane. 

“I’m afraid I don’t know who that is. But if you’re referring to Agent Hurricane then this was a reward for having completed two other missions last week.” Well, and an exercise for Terence to practice rearranging seat assignments. Bond started to snark back, but Q cut him off. “Your flight will be taking off soon and so I’ll have to let you go. Touch base when you land! Q out.” He hit the disconnect button with glee.

Terence shook his head. “I’ll never understand how you two work together.”

“It’s just like having an annoying older sibling,” Q replied. “Now let’s go over these details again.” They bent closer over Q’s laptop. “They’re assigned to track someone from Q Branch station T. I didn’t tell them who so they actually have to do some work. That will bring them to the taxi company, which Q branch is managing.”

Terence clicked on his phone and an image popped up on Q’s screen. “These are the water taxi uniforms. There’s one for both of them.”

Q smiled. They were light blue shirts and capris with dark blue shoulder stripes clearly meant to invoke naval uniforms. There were even prints of black ropes around the wrists. Bond was going to be so offended. Both by the print and the lack of full pants. He’d have to find somewhere else to hide his knife. “I can’t wait to see pictures of that.”

“Agreed. From there out, everything else will seem to happen spur of the moment but be the plan we discussed before.”

Q quickly scrolled though the rest of their private notes, but they knew the mission well. They just had to be flexible for when it went wrong, as missions always did with 007. “Well, while they’re on their flight, do you wanna get dinner?”

“Yes. There’s a Korean place that just opened up a couple blocks away.”

***

Bond did not like having his shins bare. It showed too much skin for a professional uniform. Legs were only meant to be seen in their entirety or not at all. And he hated being the skipper. Aguilar was lucky the docks had bumpers and were simple slips, because she could not execute a proper docking. Even with the slips Bond had to jump out of the boat with the ropes and help guide it in. 

And then it was far too hot to be hauling luggage up all 325 steps to the manor house. He counted. Really what sort of people brought three cases of luggage for a two day party?

“The same people who had ties with SPECTRE,” Q whispered. 

“What?” Bond asked, his heart rate jumping up just a little bit more. 

“It’s nothing direct, but some of these people own companies with multiple sub-companies and those were involved with activities we’ve monitored before. We should’ve seen this sooner.”

Bond shrugged as he entered the room for Mr and Mrs Carthbright. He carefully placed their matching Mickey and Minnie Mouse luggage down at the foot of the bed and hung the wardrobe bag in the closet. “It’s not like we didn’t know there was going to be shady money here.”

“True. But I would’ve preferred to know this ahead of time.” Q paused and Bond knew he was listening to someone else. Bond walked out into the hallway. “Don’t look around any on this trip, Silvereye. There’s staff down at the dock talking to Hurricane so you best hurry back.”

He removed his hand from the other doorknob. “Copy that.” He walked out of the manor with a purposeful stride and returned to the boat. Sure enough, there was a groundskeeper/bodyguard talking with Aguilar while she waited for him. He saw the minute loosening of the tension in her shoulders. 

When he approached, she was speaking to the man in Italian. Bond didn’t know enough of the language to understand her. And certainly not to understand her at the speed with which she was speaking. Her hands, though, suggested that she was explaining that she had just been waiting for Bond to get back before she left. Their cover story had been that it was company policy that there should always be two capable drivers in the boat. 

Bond began untying the ropes as soon as he reached them. From his periphery he can see the man nod gruffly and move away. Aguilar got back in the boat and started it up. Bond pushed them out and then hopped on as she pulled away. 

“What was that about?” he asked, standing next to her and holding the rail as she cut across the chop. 

“Wanted to know why he kept seeing us lingering at the dock with no passengers,” she replied. “Company policy was brought up.” She glanced at him with a frown. “If he keeps watching us we might need an alternate way of leaving you on the island.”

He didn’t really want to spend time coming up with an alternate plan. “Let’s stick with this for now. It might still work.”

***

It did work. Mostly. 

Q walked back into the control room after catching a few hours of sleep to see “Silvereye’s” tracker racing across the map. “What went wrong?” he asked.

Terence glanced around the room at the couple other handlers for the agency still working. Unfortunately they wouldn’t be alone like they were last time. “The groundskeeper recognised him.”

Q pulled on his headset. “Remind me to enroll him in that body language course when this is done. This should not be happening.” He opened his laptop and hooked the tall chair with his foot to sit on in the front of the room. “And Hurricane?”

“Driving around to pick him up and regroup. He still wants to try again.”

Q saw Hurricane’s marker now enter the map area going faster and on an intercept course with Silvereye. “Let me guess, tonight still? While they’re still alert?”

Terence only nodded. One of the women Q had been getting to know walked up to the front of the room and stood next to him for a moment, staring at the map. “Looks like you’re in for a long night, dear. So sorry. Good thing you’re young.” She patted him on the shoulder and then walked out, her own mission done for the day. 

“You’re older than me,” Terence muttered. “What do you do to charm women like that?”

“It’s all about the jumpers,” Q replied. He tapped on his comm system. “Agent Silvereye. I expect a report on what went wrong as soon as you’re in the car.”

“Of course, Q.” His voice was annoyingly even despite running uphill on difficult terrain. 

“Hurricane, he should be coming upon you soon,” Terence said. “Slow down until you see him.”

“Copy that.”

Two minutes later, Bond somersaulted into the back seat of the convertible and caught his breath while Aguilar sped off, punching the button to raise the bullet proof canvas. While they drove, he reported to Q. 

“Changed in one of the bedrooms. Hid the uniform between the double mattresses, no way they would’ve found that already. The guests treated me like one of the staff so it wasn’t a bad disguise. I even got one of your cameras mounted in the entrance hall. But that guardsman saw me and recognised me.” Bond sighed. “I don’t know what he was saying but it was loud and angry and I didn’t plan on getting shot so soon in the mission.”

“Hmm let me see here,” Q hummed. “Being thrown out of the estate so soon in the mission wasn’t in my plan either.”

“What’s the plan, Q?” Hurricane asked. 

Q glanced around the room, but there were still a few stragglers. “Go back to the local base and get some actual rest. You’ve been awake for a while. I know you can manage, Silvereye, but do please remember this is a joint mission. Lay low while we reassess the situation. If they can recognise you on sight we’ll need to adopt a different strategy. Remember secrecy is still one of the primary goals of this mission.”

“And the camera that’s already there?” 

Terence answered. “Someone is on their way to receive transmissions already.” 

Q watched as the car slowed down and approached what he knew was Station T. He closed down the map and began disconnecting systems. “Agents, I am transferring you to skeleton. See you in the morning.”

“Over and out,” the agents both replied. 

Q sighed and took off his headset. A did the same. “You can just transfer them back to branch?” he asked. “Why didn’t you do that on the other mission? We traded shifts all night.”

“Last time you would’ve been suspicious if I had just abandoned them all night and then came in the next day knowing more than I should’ve.” He shut his laptop and slid it in the bag, tucking the headset in the front pocket. “I patched in R anyway as soon as we found the chemicals.”

Terence slug his own bag over his shoulder and followed Q out. “I suppose I should’ve figured that out.”

“Bye, A. Bye, Q.” B poked his head out of the office to wave goodbye. They waved back. 

“And do you think he’ll really listen and not go in again tonight?”

Q grimaced. “There’s a small chance he won’t. But there’s a stronger need for secrecy than on his usual missions so I think he’ll agree to take this slower. It’s why we’re going through all this afterall.” He nodded back toward the building. 

“And you? You’ll actually go home and sleep? That seems unlike you.”

“I’ll check in from home, but yes. I’m not actually a robot; I do need sleep.” He pulled on his helmet and straddled his bike. “Until tomorrow.” And with a roar of an engine, he was out of the parking lot and off to cuddle his fur balls. 


	4. Liability

Q had to deal with a minor budget issue in the morning so Terence beat him into the agency office. But at least there wasn’t much traffic on a Saturday morning and he still made good time. He even let his bodyguard stay close on his bike, not bothering to give them the runaround.

However, they weren’t the only ones in the office. Q was actually surprised to see a young woman sitting next to Terence and also wearing a headset. He slowly walked to his chair and started opening up his laptop, listening while Terence discussed routes or something like that. It was hard to tell. 

She wheeled her chair back to talk behind Terence’s back. “Hi, I’m Kerri. Or L, I guess.” She had an American accent. “Still getting used to that. B assigned me to listen into your mission since he said you were two of the best here.” She stuck her hand out. “I’m assuming you’re Q?”

He shook her hand out of habit. “Yes.” He was raised to have good manners even while his mind was trying to figure out what this would mean for their mission. “Pleasure.” He turned back to finish setting up his station, making sure to turn on the screen guard. It would mean Terence couldn’t see his screen as well, but it would ensure that L couldn’t.

They had been counting on not needing to use much code for this mission. At least not on the agents’s end. And they would be free to use the full resources of Q branch without another handler being suspicious or having to disguise it in anyway. He glanced sideways at Terence who gave him an understanding look in return. 

Deciding it was worth the small risk, Q opened up the secure chat he had with all the computers registered in Q Branch, including Terence’s laptop.  _ Wtf _

The small chat popped up on Terence’s screen and he typed while he continued talking.  _ You know how bad I am at saying no. At least she’s got a one way headset only. _

_ Do they know? _

_ Y _

Well. Keep calm and carry on. Nothing to do if they wanted this to stay secret. Terence finished deciding on routes though the house. Somehow they had obtained blueprints of the house that they had not had before and Terence was passing it off as a prize for having accomplished a bonus side quest last night. It also included where they believed hidden rooms were located.

“This is Q checking in,” he said in the break in the conversation. “Do you copy?”

“Read you loud and clear, Q,” Agent Hurricane responded. 

“Got anything new for us, Q?” Agent Silvereye asked.

“Nothing yet.”

And there wasn’t much to add for a few hours. They listened as Agents Silvereye and Hurricane scoped out the forest mostly for show, and then Silvereye “took a nap to conserve his energy” while Hurricane went out to dinner. Bond actually went back to Station T and tested out the scuba gear he would use tonight. 

It needed to fit over his suit for when he entered the house and it would also include a hood to keep his hair dry too. He would carry his shoes in a waterproof bag with the other cameras, though. Flippers just didn’t fit over dress shoes. 

Q couldn’t keep tabs on it though as he was instead tasked with showing L how to handle agents properly. Surely he had free time since his agent was asleep. 

So he showed her how to log into the system, how to adjust the headset, and where all the training missions could be found. He told her some of the basic tips for handling agents that older Q branch members had told him when he first joined the department. She seemed to pick that up easily enough. She said she had four younger brothers so that made sense. But what Q couldn’t understand was her inexorably slow typing speed. 

This job actually had a decent tech proficiency requirement. How anyone who still hunted and pecked on the keyboard got it, he couldn’t understand. Q watched as she slowly logged into the computer in front of her and navigated to the mission logs. She pulled up a sample mission statement and filled out the section on advised proceedings. And Q supposed she had a good sense of planning. But her phone’s dictations software could’ve typed it faster. 

Hopefully she didn’t have any long term career aspirations. 

Still, Q was the picture of patience as he continued to read  _ Rivers of London _ and occasionally respond to texts from Serafina. Bond looked positively ugly in an orange, skintight wetsuit. They would paint it black for tonight though. He texted the picture to Bill.

_ I’ll add it to his file _ . He got back in response. They had a secret folder of embarrassing pictures of each agent. 003 had the biggest folder thanks to all of the poolside karaoke nights. Q avoided them, but his minions were well trained. 

_ Ta _

“Q?” Terence asked. 

Q hummed without looking up from his phone. 

“What’s the transmission range on those cameras?” 

“15 kilometers, no concrete; 10 kilometers with barriers; 8 kilometers guarenteed,” he rattled off. He wasn’t sure why Terence needed to know that. The woods the local agents were in was well within the limits. 

Terence nodded at L. “This is why he’s good. He knows every detail of the mission off the top of his head and doesn’t need to take the time to look it up. This means a faster response time for problems encountered in the field.”

Oh. He was being used as an example to teach L. Q pulled his laptop onto his knees and opened up his document of Q branch minions. It was a multifaceted spreadsheet, but the bit he was looking for was the mentor program. Listening to the conversation going on next to him, it was clear that if he didn’t already have Terence in the mentor program, he should. It had been two years since Q had hired him so he had enough experience now to teach the newbies and, if he felt so inclined, help with the internship program Q branch also ran. 


	5. Slippery Spy

It got dark earlier over there, so the mission proceeded just after Q and Terence grabbed a quick dinner. Korean takeaway. L also came back from dinner to observe them. They had just finished having a proper check in with that agents so thankfully they were all on the same page about what would happen and what the code words were to be. They had moved up to the standing desks in front so that they could use the larger projection screens. 

And because Q was really bad and running missions while sitting down. He needed to be able to move. 

Eden Aguilar and James Bond were on a boat heading across the water toward Daisy Tavitian’s estate. The boat looked like a modest fishing boat, and for the most part it was. There were just a few extra gadgets from the engineers in Q branch. Aguilar was piloting while Bond pulled on his wetsuit. It was tricky to position the skintight rubber over his suit without wrinkling it too much. 

He was also much more used to wetsuits that ended at the ankles and wrists so this completely enclosed design was strange. His feet stuck to the deck of the boat at first, but when a wave had splashed overboard they became slippery. Once his fingers were also encased in rubber he had to ask Aguilar to help pull the hood over his head. He knew it was easier to take off by himself when wet, but he still felt a faint nervousness. 

Not to mention that the rubber was too thick for his earpiece to pick up his voice through. 

“Agent Silvereye is all suited up and ready to go,” Aguilar reported for him. 

“Copy that,” he could hear Q reply.

They were still an hour out and the sky glow was finally fading. Bond checked the bag and then zipped it up. He reviewed the plan in his head. In. Out. Be invisible. If he was questioned, show them the London Spy Agency card and say he got drunk earlier and had passed out. He got lost on his way out. He hoped it wouldn’t come to that. 

“Agents, there’s another boat set to arrive ten minutes before you do,” Q said. “Unknown if the destination is the same, but be cautious.”

Someone was definitely approaching the estate. More people to avoid. 

“Understood, Q,” Aguilar said. She turned off the boat lights and just watched the inbuilt radar screen. 

Bond looked up at the stars and made sure their bearing remained straight the old fashioned way. 

“Boat has left. Empty waters,” Terence said. 

The boat had vanished off the radar. Aguilar looked at Bond. Bond nodded. 

“Understood, A,” she said. Two minutes later, she shut off the boat and pulled out the oars. They sat on opposite sides of the boat and rowed themselves closer to the cliff. The glittering lights from the windows of the mansion were their lighthouse. They rowed into the bay on the opposite side of the estate and slowly lowered the anchor.

“Anchored,” Aguilar reported. “Any updates?”

There was a pause. “Nothing to interfere with the mission. Standard clicks.” 

Bond nodded and pulled the fins closer to him. He tried to pull them on himself, but he needed Aguilar to fasten them on securely. He put on his face mask and rebreather. He sat on the edge of the boat. He gave Aguilar a thumbs up and flipped backwards into the water. 

He splashed into the water and straightened out, quickly testing out his flexibility before rising slowly back up to the surface. He swam closer to the boat and then clicked on his headlamp, keeping it aimed at the side of the boat to hide it from any sentries on shore. “Bag.” 

Aguilar handed down the bag with his shoes and the cameras. He strung it over his shoulders and submerged. He swam beneath the boat and toward the estate. 

“Good luck, Silvereye,” he heard Q say. Then it was silence. Just the sound of his own blood pumping in his ears. He only came to the surface once, when he was about halfway there, to double check he still had the correct bearings. He did. 

Bond continued underwater, slowly swimming toward the estate, making no ripples on the water above. Suddenly he saw the entrance to the cave. His headlamp flashing off a dull metal boat ahead. He paused but the boat didn’t appear to be moving. He swam closer, turning off his light when it became too much of a risk. He felt the slight temperature shift as he entered the cavern. This water wasn’t heated by the daytime sun. 

He floated below the surface, looking up and listening as best he could, trying to detect signs of life. He heard nothing. Cautiously, he pulled himself out of the water and darted into a shadow. Still no other signs of movement. He began to undress. He set down his mask and gripped the rebreather in his teeth while he pulled off the hood. It tugged at his hair slightly but it was fairly easy to remove. Then the zip down the front and he could peel his arms out. From there it was easy enough to carefully extract himself from his flippers and the rest of the wetsuit. 

He was pleased to find his proper suit was still dry and mostly free of creases. Bond tucked the rebreather and cameras into his inner pocket, put his shoes on, and folded the wetsuit into the outer pocket of his bag. Looking around, he found a small crevice to jam the bag out of sight. Straightening his cuffs, he pushed open the door that led to the main house. 

It was quiet. A loud contrast from the party yesterday. Bond placed a camera opposite the door and pressed the camera to activate it. He waited for a minute until, “Transmission is steady. Carry on, Agent Silvereye.” Bond tapped his earpiece once to confirm he heard Q. Then he moved on. 

He avoided the main hallways, assuming that any illicit activities would occur in more hidden rooms. Like hidden behind the sliding panel door that was painted to match the rest of the wall opposite the ornate statue of an angel designed to draw the eye away from the door. He couldn’t place a camera here. Bond opened the door and slipped through. There was no one in here. It was a plain room with a filing cabinet and a modern desk in one corner. No drawers. And the cabinet was locked. He didn’t have his usual kit, but he was a classically trained spy. 

“Locked filing cabinet, Q. Should I look inside?”

“No. That was not on the list of challenges for this mission.” In other words, he would love a look inside, but for the sake of keeping their cover on both ends, they could not. 

Bond planted a camera above the door he entered through and slipped through the door opposite. This lead to a long hallway lined with statues. Bond hid behind one of them. He could hear voices at the end of the hall. He tapped his earpiece twice.

“Silvereye?” Q said, faking a note of concern. “I can’t hear you. Stay put until we get the signal back.”

Bond surged forward and knocked out the guard at the other end of the hall. He dragged him behind the nearest statue and took his place in front of the door. “Ears open, Q,” he muttered. Then he leaned closer to the door, straining his ears. 

He could hear voices, two at least, in conversation, though it was hard to make out the words. One voice was Daisy Tavitian. He recognised it from the videos in his intel package. Actually now there was another voice, louder than the other two had been. 

“Unacceptable!” That bit was clear. “I will not turn over everything I have worked for to a  _ girl _ ,” the voice sneered.

There was a response from the other lower voice, but he couldn’t tell what it was. Bond wished he could get a camera inside, but it was too much of a risk. There weren’t a lot of discreet places for a camera in the hall either. He could try, well, would the angles work?

He waited until the person was shouted again and quickly asked Q, “Fisheye lens?”

“Yes. Two meters back if you can manage it.” 

Bond smiled. He really loved when Q was on the same wavelength as him. 

“Oh that’s strange, I could hear him.” Q covered for himself, since he had said earlier that he couldn’t hear Bond, but in fact he had only muted Bond in L’s headset. “Let me try the same fix I used. Shouldn’t be more than two minutes.”

Bond nodded to himself as he backed up. Hopefully the techies would be able to get useable audio data out of the feed. They were wizards with enhancing audio. Two meters back, he pulled out another camera and removed the adhesive. He looked up at the ceiling and swung his arms, getting the rhythm. Then he crouched low and sprung up high, planting the the camera where no one would look. He landed lightly on his feet, but decided it was time for him to leave anyway. 

“Absolutely not!” Especially as it sounded like the meeting was coming to an end. 

He ran for the hidden doors and slipped back into the main hallway, walking fast but trying to remain inconspicuous. He took a wrong turn once but a quick hint from Terence put him back on track quickly. He entered the cavern again and breathed a sigh of relief when his bag was still there. 

He took off his shoes first, and his socks for good measure. Then he pulled out the wetsuit. It was the usual hop and skip of tugging it on when it was damp, but at least this time it didn’t matter if his trousers bunched up weirdly. He was just pulling the zipper up his chest when he heard voices on the other side of the door. It wouldn’t be a perfect seal but he didn’t care. Lightning fast he zipped up the bag and snapped his mask on. Without flippers, he could at least run to the water and dive in, wincing at the splash of the backpack. 

Bond dove deep and kicked furiously to get out of the way of the boat. He kept his arms stretched ahead of him since the water was nearly pitch black without his headlight. He swam further out and heard the engine of the boat start behind him. Risk being seen, or risk being hit by the boat? 

Always light. He pulled the hood up over his head and pressed on the light. Much better. He had been about to run into a rock. Bond glanced behind him but he couldn’t see the boat yet. Facing forward he kicked fast, powering himself through the water. He heard a crackle of Q’s voice, but the water had damaged the unprotected earpiece and he couldn’t make out his words. All he could do was swim faster.

The roar of the engine grew louder as the boat shifted out of idle and backed out of the cavern. Bond swam faster; the boat grew louder. He continued swimming, glancing over his shoulder every four strokes until, out of the darkness, he could see the boat approaching. He dove down deep, embracing the cool waters and made sure that the boat would stay well clear of his head.

He lay still in the water, his hand mostly covering the light even as he watched above him, waiting for the boat to pass by. With a low roar it zipped overhead and even as low as he was, Bond felt the push of the water displacement. The wake rippled over head and he twisted to watch it continue on straight before turning to leave the bay. When he could no longer hear the boat, he slowly rose to the surface and checked his bearings. He couldn’t see their boat, but the estate was mostly dead at his back so he corrected course and swam toward the shore. 

It was a much longer trip back. Both because he was more tired and because of the lack of flippers. But he was a strong swimmer and soon enough he surfaced next to the boat sitting in the pool of reflected moonlight. He was met with Aguilar’s gun, but she lowered it quickly when she recognised him. 

“He’s back.”


	6. Mission Complete

Q breathed a sigh of relief. Bond had taken off his watch with a tracker for this mission since it wouldn’t fit under the wetsuit and Q forgot how nerve-wracking it could be to have no data on an agent. 

He’d been able to hear Bond the entire time he as inside and even the swim over he could hear faint sounds of water. But then he heard a loud splash followed a dying earpiece. Something had caused Bond to jump in the water without finishing putting on his wetsuit. Either that or his earpiece had been thrown in the water right before someone captured him but Q had been trying to think positively.

Eden said she’d heard a boat leaving but hadn’t spotted Bond yet. He’d asked her to tell them about what dream modifications she’d have on a car if physics wasn’t a limit to distract her mind from the worry. Most of them were ridiculous, but a couple Q made note of. He’d assign Shay to do some researching with her when this mission was done. 

Then she heard a faint splash and immediately pointed her gun and torch into the water. “He’s back.”

Q heard them talking and the sounds of Bond getting back onboard. “He says everything’s fine, but he had to jump in sooner than expected so the earpiece blew.”

“Understood. Well pass on our congratulations for a mission well done. Head out and enjoy a good night’s rest before your flights back.”

“Copy that. Thanks for the fun mission. Over and out!”

“Good job from me too. A signing off,” Terence added. They both took of their headsets and nodded to each other. 

L took off her headset as well and set it on her lap. “Wow. That was more tense than I expected. I didn’t realise it would be this exciting!” She had a wide smile on her face and she swivelled in her chair. “And B was right, you do work well together. So what now? Celebrate with drinks?”

Terence shrugged. “Some people do. Both of us are more of the go home variety.”

Q certainly was. This was his last free night. Terence was going to stay here a couple more days, but tomorrow Q had to go back to being a branch head and make sure all the data they got from this was good quality. He’d hate to have to send another agent back in.

It would be good. No more secrets from others in the rooms with him, his own office, better quality data. Though he did wish the chairs were more comfortable. Maybe he’d hack the company tonight and figure out where they were ordered from. A perfect way to relax with the cats.


End file.
